Packing tobacco is a ritual that precedes dipping and smoking, whether in cigarette form or pipe form. While some claim that packing keeps tobacco fresher, or makes cigarettes smoke longer, the benefits of packing are largely that of habit. Packing tobacco does help to consolidate loose tobacco flakes that may have relaxed over time, in both tins and cigarette papers. Whatever your method, we've got you covered below. See Step 1 for more information.

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Steps

Method 1 of 3: Packing Smokeless Tobacco Tins

1

Open your can first to check for freshness. Most dipping tobacco comes in small, hockey puck-shaped tins that are designed to keep the tobacco nice and moist, and the flavor strong. Chewers and dippers will "pack" the tobacco to one side of the can for a variety of different reasons, but mostly to push all the tobacco to the same place in the tin, making it easier to get a pinch, and because it looks cool.

Packing smokeless tobacco does nothing to keep the tobacco "fresher," and it's perfectly fine if you don't want to pack it. Packing the tin is mostly a ritual, though it does help to consolidate the tobacco in the tin and makes it easier to tell how much you've got left.

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2

Pinch the can between your middle finger and thumb. After closing the tin, put the tip of your thumb in the center of the bottom of the tin, and the tip of your middle finger in the center of the top of the tin. Rotate the tin so it's perpendicular to the ground.

3

Snap the tin downward quickly. Hold the tin loosely, but firm enough that you won't drop it. Wrap your pointer finger around the edge of the tin, as if you were going to skip it on the water, like a stone. While relaxing your pointer finger over the can, move the can up and down quickly.

Start at about shoulder height and move the can downward with a quick jerk. With each jerking movement, your pointer finger will make a pleasing snap noise on the side of the can. Repeat several times to get a good pack.

Some dippers will do a slightly different version, snapping it backward, toward the side of the head, as opposed to downward. Others will flick the tin away from them, like throwing a frisbee. Experiment some to see what feels most comfortable for you.

4

Open the tin. The loose tobacco should be packed densely to one side of the tin, making it easy to remove a pinch, no matter how little is left inside. Then, you're ready to dip and enjoy.

Method 2 of 3: Packing Cigarettes

1

Pack cigarettes before opening them. When you buy a pack of cigarettes, whatever variety, the pack will have been sitting right-side-up on the shelf for quite a while, and the tobacco will have loosened up some in the paper. Many smokers will pack the tobacco back down toward the filter while the cigarettes are still tight in the package, making each one somewhat easier to light and draw from.

While it's not necessary to pack cigarettes, it is true that cigarettes from packs that haven't been packed have a tendency to "kick the cherry," or lose the lit-end when the ash is tapped off.

It's also true that the tobacco will recess some, back into the cigarette, leaving a little empty tab of paper on the end of each one, which is somewhat easier to light than a cigarette with tobacco flush with the end.

2

Turn the pack upside down in your hand. Pinch the between your thumb and middle finger in your dominant hand, the top of the pack pointed down toward the floor. Hold the pack in place with your pointer-finger on top. Hold your other hand open flat, your palm pointed up.

You don't have to remove the plastic wrap from the outside of the pack first, and in fact it's better if you don't. You don't have to worry about the top of the box flapping open while you're doing it.

Soft-packs and hard-packs are done in exactly the same way, as are filtered cigarettes and unfiltered, but it's a good idea to handle soft-packs a bit more gently, since there's nothing separating your finger from the cigarette but a thin piece of paper.

3

Slap the top of the pack into your palm. To pack the cigarettes, bring the top of the pack down firmly into your open palm, slapping it. Hold the pack loose enough so you're not bruising your palm, just letting the momentum of the swing carry the pack into your palm.

Bring it back up and repeat this process about 10 times, depending on how packed you like your cigarettes. More packing will recess the tobacco farther into the paper, resulting in more empty space at the tip of the cigarette and denser tobacco, making the draw somewhat more snug.

4

Open the pack of cigarettes and remove one. If you don't like how far you've packed the tobacco, you can return the cigarette to the pack and pack it a few more times. If you packed it too much, you can flip the pack over and pack it a few times in the opposite direction, if you wish.

Method 3 of 3: Packing a Pipe

1

Only pack a clean, well-maintained tobacco pipe. In between using a tobacco pipe, the pipe should be allowed to cool thoroughly, and the stem should be cleaned out by running a pipe cleaner through it several times. It's ok, and in fact it's a good thing if the bowl of the pipe is dark and ashy. That's called the "cake" and it helps the tobacco burn in a uniform way.

Never empty a tobacco pipe and immediately repack it. The stem will likely be full of wet condensation, which will give you a hot and rattling smoke that won't taste very good.

2

Fill the bowl with the tobacco of your choice and push it down by half. The best and most simple way to pack a pipe is to fill the bowl completely, then use the pipe tamper–a small metal rod with a flat end made for the purpose–to push the tobacco down until it's reduced by about half.

If you don't have a tamper, it's perfectly fine to use your thumb, your forefinger, or the blunt end of a lighter. The tamper is nice, but not necessary.

3

Add another few pinches to fill the bowl. Refill the pipe to full and compress the tobacco again by half. The pipe should be roughly 3/4 of the way full, depending on the variety of the tobacco and the springiness of it. If you've got a larger bowl, you might want to add more, but that's probably enough to get started.[1]

4

Light the tobacco and draw gently. After packing it in, you're ready to heat up the pipe and get smoking. Draw gently and rhythmically to avoid overheating the pipe or flustering the tobacco.

5

Ask a tobacconist to demonstrate, if your pipes go out frequently. Packing a pipe is an art form that will take some practice, but it also doesn't need to be any more complicated than you want it to be. You don't need fancy equipment or expensive tobacco to pack a good pipe. If your pipes are going out frequently, though, you might have a malfunction in your pipe stem, or you might be packing the pipe too loosely. Experiment some, and ask a tobacconist for help if you're struggling.

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Tips

If you just can't get it down and wanna dip you can simply turn the can on its side and tap it on something a few times whether its your leg, knuckle, or even a couch.

If you cannot seem to get the packing down take the can out of your hand and pinch your middle finger and thumb together and try your best to just snap your pointer finger onto your thumb and middle finger... after you get a couple good ones in go back and try to repeat the same thing with your can in your hand.

When you get low on chew you can simply take the lid of your can and put it into your can and push the chew into a corner until it is tightly packed.

Make sure you dig and push into the packed tobacco, compressing it while you do so. This takes practice, but you'll get a denser pinch this way.